Water is a basic necessity to sustain all life. Every living thing on the planet, animal and plant, needs water to survive. As such, the need for clean, pure water will never decrease. In fact, as populations grow, the need for clean, pure water will only increase. Recently, society has begun to focus more on the purity of water for both drinking and other applications. Pure water is bottled by a multitude of manufacturers and is sold in many places. Demand for pure bottled water is increasing and shows no signs of waning.
The medical community in the United States periodically issues statements that indicate the average person does not drink enough water. Unlike soda, milk, and other beverages, water is available to most people simply by turning on a faucet. Typically, a local utility company provides water to people. The utility company is generally responsible for ensuring that the water provided to homes and businesses is clean, pure, and free from harmful organisms. Indeed, many people rely solely on the public water systems to guarantee that the water flowing into their homes and businesses is fit for consumption. Typically, the municipal body responsible for providing water to the populace will have various treatment and purification procedures to help ensure the quality of the water provided to consumers. These systems can include large, industrial scale filters, treatment tanks, and other water processing devices. Unfortunately, sometimes these systems can break down, or these systems can miss a contaminant leaving the treated water with various forms of impurities.
Since water is such a vital part of people's everyday needs, the desire for clean, pure water continues to grow. Most municipal treatment facilities do an adequate job in cleaning and purifying water, however, there is concern that the municipal systems responsible for providing clean, pure water are simply overworked. Filtration of water on such a large scale can sometimes lead to water that contains particulate filtrate material left over from where the water was originally filtered. Moreover, some of the treatment methods and additive chemicals used in the cleaning and purifying of water can leave the water containing undesirable contaminants.
Municipal water treatment systems typically focus on removing various contaminants from water in order to provide clean, potable water for human consumption. Large scale purification of water is designed to reduce or eliminate the concentration of particulate matter including suspended particles, parasites, bacteria, algae, viruses, and fungi. Also, the municipal treatment facilities have apparatuses and methods to remove a wide range of dissolved and particulate material picked up by water from the surfaces the water may have made contact with after falling as rain and flowing to the treatment facility.
In the United States, the standards for drinking water quality are typically set by the government and have certain thresholds designed to ensure the drinking water is safe for consumption. In other countries around the world, however, the standards and thresholds for certain contaminants are not as stringent. Thus the warning of “don't drink the water,” in various places around the world.
According to a 2007 World Health Organization report, 1.1 billion people lack access to an improved drinking water supply. The WHO estimates that 88% of the 4 billion annual cases of diarrheal disease are attributed to unsafe water and inadequate sanitation and hygiene. Further, 1.8 million people die from diarrheal diseases each year. The WHO further estimates that 94% of these diarrheal cases are preventable through modifications to the environment, including access to safe water. The WHO concludes that a few simple techniques for treating water at home, such as chlorination, filters, and solar disinfection, combined with storing it in safe containers could save a huge number of lives each year.
In most cases, it is not possible to tell whether water is of an appropriate quality by visual examination. If water has a cloudy appearance or there are visible particles present, then the water is most likely unsafe to drink. However, many dangerous contaminants are simply too small to be visible to the naked eye. It is impossible to know that the water is clean, pure, and fit to drink simply by looking at it. Thus, some simple procedures such as boiling or the use of a household activated carbon filter have been devised in an attempt to clean and purify water for drinking. Unfortunately, these simple steps are not sufficient for treating all the possible contaminants that may be present in water from an unknown source. Even natural spring water, which in the nineteenth century was considered safe for all practical purposes, must now be tested before determining what kind of treatment, if any, is needed. A chemical analysis of water, while expensive, is the only way to obtain the information necessary for deciding on the appropriate method of purification.
Thus, a need exists for a simple, easy to use device that will ensure that water is clean, pure, and does not contain harmful contaminants. More specifically, a need exists for a filter capable of residential use or small commercial use that will allow persons to be assured that any contaminants left in water after the municipal treatment of the water are removed prior to drinking. More particularly, there are growing desires from people for a water filter for use in residences that will provide clean, purified water to the homeowner. People want a device that will hold water and purify the water prior to its consumption. As such, water pitchers equipped with filters for filtering water as it is poured from the pitcher have become increasingly popular.
While there are many water pitchers currently available that contain a filter, most of these pitchers are unable to provide a reliable means by which a user is notified to change the filter cartridge. As such, once the filter cartridge has been in use beyond its intended use, unless the user is continually monitoring the filter, he or she would not know to replace the cartridge. A user must manually track and or record each time the filter is used in order to know when the cartridge should be replaced. Or, a user could simply replace the filter cartridge at a particular interval of time. This is problematic, however, because different users will use water from the pitcher at different rates. Thus, there is a need for a water pitcher that will filter water and notify the user when the filter cartridge needs replacing. Currently there are a number of water pitcher filter devices known in the prior art, yet none of them meets the current need.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,900,138 to Moretto discloses and teaches a water pitcher containing a filter cartridge. Moretto discloses a water pitcher with a removable lid. When the lid is removed a counter advances by one increment. At a predetermined number of increments, the user is notified that the filter cartridge is in need of replacement. However, this requires that the lid of the pitcher be removed completely from the main body of the pitcher. This is a problem because when removed from the pitcher, the filter element can be exposed to impurities on a counter, stove, or any other surface upon which it is rested.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,986,901 to Nohren, Jr. et al. discloses and teaches a cap for use on water bottles. The cap contains detents corresponding to the cap body. The cap body is released and water can flow from the bottle outwardly through the cap. Each time the bottle is filled the cap is rotated one detent. The user removes the cap and fills the bottle with water. However, the user must remember to rotate the cap each time the bottle is filled with water. Once the cap is rotated to a predetermined extent, it is time to change the water filter in the bottle. Too much room for error exists, however, because if alternate people fill the bottle each must remember to rotate the cap every time. Further Nohren utilizes pressure to filter the water in the bottle. A user squeezes the bottle and the water flows through the filter and out through the cap. Since the user rotates the cap each time the bottle is used, what is actually being counted is the use of the bottle, not the volume of water filtered or the time of use of the filter cartridge. Nohren does not disclose or teach a device or method that measures volume of water filtered or time in use of the filter cartridge.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,244,751 to Hoffman et al. discloses and teaches a water filter pitcher that filters water prior to use. The pitcher discloses and taught by Hoffman has an electronic circuit built into the lid that is powered by a battery. The indicator taught by Hoffman measures only elapsed time. Indeed, Hoffman specifically limits the indicator to measuring only the elapsed time, restricting it from any other signaling. The inherent problem with this device, is that it measures only time. If the water pitcher is used more than predicted, the filter cartridge will become ineffective before the set time limit. Thus, using the water pitcher until the elapsed time is reached would mean that the water is actually not being filtered properly, as the filter cartridge has expired. Also, if the filter pitcher is under used, the filter cartridge will still have useable life in it when the timer indicates that it should be replaced. Thus, counting only elapsed time to measure when the filter cartridge needs to be replaced is problematic.
Therefore, a need exists for a water pitcher that will filter water and that does not suffer from the disadvantages of water pitchers according to the prior art. Indeed, a water filter pitcher is needed that will indicate to users when it is time to replace the filter cartridge by measuring the amount of water filtered. Moreover, a need exists for a water filter pitcher that does not require a user to remember to take an action each time the pitcher is filled with water. Further, a need exists for a water filter pitcher that has an easily replaceable filter and does not require the use of special tools. Further, a need exists for a water filter pitcher that can take advantage of the current available filter cartridges for ease of replacement. Moreover, a need exists for a water filter pitcher that can communicate that the filter cartridge needs replacing and is not dependant on additional actions by the user. The present invention fulfills these long-felt needs.